Immigration and customs implementation officials usually reach Teton County with simple clothes, sometimes with a symbol in their belt, and often approach businesses as if they were a client.
This is according to immigration lawyer Elisabeth Trefonas.
“I have a lot of questions from business owners,” How can I know if it is a customer against an agent? “”
Trefonas told him a crowd of over 150 people filled in the Fairgrounds community building of Teton district on Thursday morning to learn the latest about immigration policy.
“When they start asking questions about your employees, you will surely understand.”
Breakfast after breakfast, hosted by trade room Jackson Hole, Ice was confirmed To be in an apartment complex in Jackson, looking for a 17 -target “reported” individuals.
This is the first time the ICE presence in Tetton County has been confirmed since the beginning of President Trump’s second administration.
A 25% report of Jackson and 13% of the Teton District are born from outside. But those numbers can already be stagnant.
Judging from the morning participation, said Rick Howe, president of Jackson Hole’s Chamber of Commerce, immigration is a key topic in the business ecosystem.
“With about 40% of our workforce are so many different cultures,” Howe said, “There are people from all over the planet to come here for a season, for several seasons, some of which end up staying here for a life. And this is what makes us such a great place to be. “
The busy start of President Trump’s second term has coincided with a multitude of bills in the Wyoming home, making the immigration changes difficult to follow.
But standing in the community building in front of a designer screen with an example of a valid search order, Trefonas said that rights, how to accept to help an unobstructed investigation, remain constant.
Sophia Boyd-Fleiegel
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starch
The right to reject the service
Sandra Guido is a local HR manager. She came with a specific question: can she tell ICE agents to leave her business.
“I learned that, yes, it’s a private business. You can exercise your right to say that they can leave your business at any time for some reason, ”Guido said.
In private property, said Trefonas, a business owner still has the right to reject service to people in uniform or federal government employees. A valid search order must be for a specific location, not just one person, and must be signed by a judge or magistrates.
Most often, Trefonas said, ICE agents will have an “administrative order”. These are from the Department of Internal Security, not the court. From the legal point of view, said Trefonas, this is not a “legal order”.
“That’s like getting into your business with a piece of paper and I said” give me all your money. “I don’t have any authority to do it.”
Trefonas recommended practicing this interaction and Identifying different letters.
Trefonas made a distinction between taking law enforcement, which can be considered a barrier to justice, and potentially illegal. She recommended the recording of interactions and staying calm and kind.
“Very little comes from taking it. Now you have become a danger to someone in uniform, ”she said.
Driving is the point of contact number 1
The most common point of contact of people without proper documentation and law enforcement is driving, Sherif District Teton Matt Carr said.
Neither the Sheriff’s Sheriff’s office and the Jackson Police Department participate in the program that allows local officers to enforce federal immigration laws.
While local officers will not usually ask about immigration status unless it is important for an investigation, police chief Michelle Webber simply said, “Do not drive without a driver’s license.”
This is because this is one of the only times that people are asked to speak with law enforcement.
Trefonas recommended that business owners facilitate employees to use the bus and carpool.
She also advised undocumented people to get an authorization for how they are receiving money and who can get their children from school if they are banned.
Schools seek to “avoid trauma”
While it was not a business, the main mind for many people in the meeting was a January Federal Order Permission of ice in schools, where officers were not previously allowed and considered a “sensitive place”.
It is not clear if ICE encourages them to aim for schools, but Gillian Chapman, Tetton District School District Supervisor, tried to secure his parents. Child information remains widely confidential, she said, and staff participated in training to know how to interact with law enforcement.
The policy of the school circle, she said, is to send law enforcement by looking for a student or staff to it.
“In that way to avoid any trauma for our students, ”she said.
Asked by a reporter if schools had children’s plans if their parents would be deported and they go home to an empty house, Chapman said they would rely on community resources.
“We will work together to ensure that our students, in those truly scary situations, have the support and shelter they need, ”she said.